Professional Documents
Culture Documents
10/03/2015
By David Williams
10/03/2015
a tropical depression to a tropical storm off the tip of Florida, and then as moving
closer to shore it gained energy until it reached a category 5 hurricane. However, as it
was closely monitored hurricane warnings were issued and a full action plan was
instigated by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) who were in charge
of planning for disasters. They implemented the Doomsday Plan as when it entered
the Gulf of Mexico it was clear the hurricane would intensify. It was due to this
prediction that 70% were expected to leave as evacuation began taking place. The
point at which landfall was expected was near New Orleans and so evacuation orders
were passed on to reduce the loss of life in the city. Not only do MEDCs have better
system for tracking a hurricane, when one develops they also have the ability to
evacuate people on a large scale, and designated government bodies to issue warnings
and further plans. However, hurricane Mitch in 1998 swept through Honduras and
Nicaragua killing over 10,000 people. Although the hurricane was detected, very little
was known about where it would hit landfall, and so preparation for the disaster was
not as advanced as in America.
Not only does prediction aid the loss of life, but also further infrastructural
projects can reduce damage that is caused. This can be seen in New Orleans, where
the affect of large storm surges was reduced. The city is on average, 2 meters below
sea level, and so relies on a 560km levee system around the city to stop flooding of
the city. This levee however was built to withstand a category 3 hurricane. On 28th
August 2005 these defenses were breached and water poured into the city covering
80% of the land. This shows that even in MEDCs if the defenses that are put into
place are not appropriate or substantial enough, hazards such as Katrina will still have
a devastating impact.
The final way that LEDCs are more vulnerable to hurricanes is the quality of
recovery and rescue operations that take place. With poorer governments, less money
will be available to the emergency services to aid in rescue missions. Also the
infrastructure of the country will be weaker and so movement of people out of areas
that are worst hit will be much more difficult. The health care and spread of disease
will be much great in LEDCs as only basic health care and hospitals are available.
This was seen during hurricane Mitch, where mass movement hazards caused by the
hurricane dammed the Rio Choluteca, creating a lagoon of stagnant, sewage filled
water. Other examples in Nicaragua showed that due to the destruction of land, and to
little aid, thousands of children died from starvation and malnutrition. In MEDCs,
prearranged action plans will be put into place, and all injured and sick will be treated
quickly to reduce the spread of water borne disease etc. There would also be aid plans
available to house and feed those that were affected by the hurricane. For example,
after hurricane Katrina hit, the Red Cross effort set up 356 American Red Cross
shelters and housed over 107,000 evacuees in Alabama and surrounding states. This
same rescue effort cannot be afforded in LEDCs as they rely heavily on international
aid rather that government intervention.
When looking at the comparison of devastation between MEDCs and LEDCs,
we see that the costs of the hazard are different in each country. The costs in an
MEDC are predominantly a financial cost, and a loss if infrastructure and capital. The
area may have been flooded and destroyed, buildings are roads need to be rebuilt, but
the death toll is kept to a minimum due to the ability to predict the event, and rescue
and aid after the hurricane. This can be seen with hurricane Katrina. The hurricane
caused the levees to be breached, leaving 80% of New Orleans under water, and an
area the size of the UK was laid waste and the hurricane left an estimated three
million people without electricity. The total cost of the hurricane was estimated at
By David Williams
10/03/2015
$81.2 billion, one of the most costly hurricanes in history. However, the loss of life
due to Katrina was kept as low as 1500 people, which is low for a hurricane of this
size, and with the flooding of a major city.
This can be contrasted with the impacts of hurricane Mitch. LEDCs tend to
have a much less developed infrastructure, buildings and less valuable land, meaning
that financial costs are not in the same region as in an MEDC. Hurricane Mitch killed
over 10,000 people in Nicaragua and Honduras, ten times more than in New Orleans,
however the financial cost of the hurricane was only $5 billion.
This contrast is known as the development continuum, where loss of life is
much higher in LEDCs but the economic losses are far greater in MEDCs. However
the costs are not as simple as the development continuum states. For example the
long-term affects of loss of land may be great. This can be seen in the case on
hurricane Mitch where thousands of hectares of important farming and plantation land
was lost, and so in following months there was a loss of 200 million worth of
farming income in the area. Also the hurricane may affect a certain sector of society
more than others. In the case of hurricane Katrina, the poor black sector of the
population was hardest hit, as damage was higher in poorer neighborhoods and most
of these people had no insurance.
When taking all aspects into account, I believe that LEDCs are at a larger risk
than MEDCs. They have not got the technology to accurately predict the path of the
hurricane and also do not have the resources to reduce damage and death if a
hurricane hits. Although the financial costs to the country will be less, I believe this to
be less important than the huge loss of life that is experienced. However, no matter
how much technology that is owned, the hurricane will not be able to be stopped, and
it will follow its path according to nature. This means that both MEDCs and LEDCs
will have to face the disastrous affects that are caused by hurricanes, and prepare as
much as possible. The only way in which we can reduce the destruction caused by
hurricanes, is by large international aid projects being set up, to help all those that are
affected.